


We Help You, You Help Us

by DarkMoonMaiden



Category: The Yogscast
Genre: (in a very minor sense), Car Accidents, Eventual Shady Dealings, Gen, Humor, Inappropriate Humor, M/M, Murder, Partying, Urban Magic Yogs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2016-02-06
Packaged: 2018-05-07 13:59:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5458988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkMoonMaiden/pseuds/DarkMoonMaiden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Abruptly, one of the passing cars pulled over, the headlights blinding Will. Lalna squirmed out from underneath the car, squinting and trying to see who was driving.</i><br/>There was the whirring of window being rolled down, and then a taunting whistle rang out.<br/>“Oh, for god’s sake!” Lalna yelled in frustration as he realized who had pulled up.<br/>“Hey boys,” Smith’s mocking voice rang out. “Having some car troubles?”<br/>***<br/>Will and Lalna get stuck on the side of the road, and end up making a deal with the Garbage Court to fix their car. It only goes downhill from there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I hope you enjoy!

Will felt a small tingle of electricity before his phone's alarm started to shriek noisily. Groaning in annoyance, he frowned and blindly reached out to shut it off. He lay there for a few more moments in blissful silence, head pleasantly fuzzy with sleepiness, already almost back in Dreamland.

“Will! Are you up yet?”

He grunted loudly in acknowledgement of Uncle Xephos’ wakeup call, reflexively pushing back his blankets. He knew better than to try and go back to sleep after the hedgewitch decided it was time for one of his boys to get up.

It took what felt like hours to get ready for the day, dozing in the shower before grabbing a pair of clothes and hoping that they were clean and matched. He sniffed his shirt and was sad to note that it wasn't the former, and doused it in enough cologne to mask the smell. I don't have the energy for this.

Stumbling down the stairs, Will was greeted by the smell of coffee and the sound of Xephos humming in the kitchen as he cooked breakfast. Lalna was still asleep, not needing to be up for a few more hours, but Honeydew was sitting at the table, flipping through the newspaper and drinking a cup of tea.

“Good morning, Will,” Xephos greeted him, giving him a warm smile. “How did you sleep?”

Will only managed a weak grumble, the words unintelligible as he greedily grabbed the coffee mug waiting for him. Honeydew chuckled fondly, turning to the next page of his newspaper.

Will took a sip from his coffee and was just starting to sit down when he glanced up at the clock above the stove. He was already running late. He rolled his head back in agony before taking a huge gulp of the coffee and setting it next to the sink, staring mournfully at it.

“‘M leaving,” he called out, already out of the kitchen and struggling into his shoes.

“Wh- you haven’t even had breakfast yet!” Xephos exclaimed indignantly, poking his head around the doorframe.

“Yeah, but I don’t have time. I'll eat it when I get home, or something.”

“Just wait a second, then.”

There was loud cluttering, and Xephos came back carrying two small things of Tupperware and a to-go mug. He snapped on the lids more tightly before handing the items to Will. “You can have this when you get to class,” he said. “You need to be eating regularly.”

Will obediently stuffed the boxes into his bag, taking an appreciative gulp from his coffee. He gave his uncle a grin. “Thanks, Uncle Xeph. You’re the best.”

Xephos smiled at him, putting his hands on his nephew's shoulders. Will felt his stomach drop slightly when Xephos leaned closer to kiss his forehead, the swirl of magic that always came with the blessing making him nauseous. He reached behind him to open the door and ducked from under Xephos before his uncle could even start to talk.

“I’m really running late for class,” he said, trying to play it off as nothing. “I’ll see you later, bye!”

Xephos made a move to stop him, to call him back, but Will was already gone, walking briskly in the cold air. When he had a few blocks between himself and the house, he felt his shoulders start to relax.

It wasn’t anything personal against Xephos. The hedgewitch did his little protection charms every time someone left the house, even if they were just a guest: a kiss on the forehead, two quick kisses on the cheeks, and words for them to be safe, imbued with Uncle Xephos’ homely and warm magic. He was known to stand in the doorway and force someone to take the charms before leaving, making sure that they would be safe (it was frankly a miracle that Will managed to avoid it as much as he did).

There was something about it that made Will’s skin crawl, though. A part of his subconscious still wasn’t used to the swirl of magic, even if it was meant only to protect. His mother had never been that great with that sort of homely charms, always just giving him a quick peck before letting him leave. Xephos’ magic was too warm, burning Will’s skin and mind and leaving bile in the back of his throat, his body almost physically trying to repel it.

He didn’t have the heart to tell his uncle that, though. He knew it would just make him feel guilty and unnecessarily concerned.

The bus came punctually, as it always did, and he found a spot near the back before pulling out the food, scarfing it down hungrily. There was only a small amount of traffic left over from rush hour, but otherwise he still managed to get to his lecture without any issues and with a few minutes to spare.

Will practically fell into his usual seat, sighing contentedly. He took out his notebook and a pencil, already knowing that he wasn’t going to be taking any notes. Instead, he pulled up his hoodie and leaned back in seat, dozing in seconds.

It was his first year of college living, and Will could already feel himself beginning to flail. He struggled to turn everything in when it was due, all of his teachers seeming to assign everything at the same time, and he was devoting all of his free time to helping manage Lomadia and Nilesy’s little charm shop.

And, to top it all off, it felt like the city  _itself_ was out to kill him.

He hadn’t been in the city for long--a half a year, at most--but he already felt like he was a part of it. Or, he was well on his way to becoming a part of it.

Voices were always in the back of his mind, from thousands of texts and calls and TV shows and the radio. They were a low hum that were usually only an annoyance, but could grow in intensity and volume at any given moment. And it certainly did, growing into a cacophony of noise that would leave him incapacitated for the rest of the day with a splitting migraine. The electricity from the street lights and neon shop signs reached out to him, making his head swirl and leaving a metallic taste in the back of his mouth while also making him crave more.

Trying to block it out tended to simply make it worse. The more Will ignored the idle chatter floating through the air, the more it seemed to call out specifically to him, his name being more prominent in the snippets of conversations. The fluorescent lights from dingy shops flickered, torn between pulling towards the technomage and being pushed away. Sometimes, it even felt like the sidewalk was tugging at him, dragging him one way or another until he was blocks away from where he wanted to be.

As it was, Will had no solution for his bizarre reaction to the city. He’d talked to Xephos about it, who had told him that he’d eventually grow a resilience to it, and there wasn’t much that they could do, besides to _never_ give into what the voices said, no matter how tempting they were or how in control Will felt. The city wouldn't hesitate to swallow him whole and make him a part of them.

Only practice of continuously blocking out the voices would make it better. Until he had a tolerance against them, his uncle brewed special teas to help with the pain, and didn’t complain when Will would spend an hour in the shower trying to wash the city’s grime off his skin or hide in his room.

Will dozed for the whole class, only waking when he heard everyone start to pack up their things. He sat up drowsily, carelessly shoving his blank notebook into his bag. He absently saw that he had absolutely no clue what the diagrams on the board were about, but forced himself to shrug it off and focus on the homework that the professor was handing out.

“Remember to bring your essays in for Monday…”

Will’s eyes widened comically, and the projector flickered a few times.

He’d forgotten. He’d completely forgotten about the essay that they had had to work on for the past two weeks, and this teacher could sniff out a paper that had been written the night before like a bloodhound.

The professor dismissed the class a few moments later, and Will sluggishly gathered his things and made his way to the door.

He dragged his feet too much, and ended up missing his usual bus that took him down to Lomadia and Nilesy’s little shop. He groaned and waited anxiously for the next one, bouncing nervously on his toes. It finally came, and he felt some tension leave his shoulders when he climbed up the stairs and showed the driver his bus pass. It was more packed than usual, all of the seats taken and people crammed together to hold onto the railing. Will managed to slot himself against the wall, popping his headphones in and ignoring everyone around him.

There was the familiar shimmer of magic as he entered Nilesy and Lomadia’s little shop, and he was enveloped in warmth, similar to what he felt every time he came home to Xephos’. It lacked the familiar, loving feeling that came with his uncle’s, though, depersonalized after dozens of strangers walking in and out every day. He tugged on the front of his hoodie, the warmth making him sweat.

Lomadia popped out from one of the back rooms, wiping off something a bright orange off onto a rag. “Will,” she greeted him. “You’re a bit later than usual.”

“I was having an existential crisis on the bus over.”

“Well, try to have those during your break, or at home,” she told him without missing a beat. “We've got some new ingredients, and Nilesy’s organizational skills are abhorrent.”

“Oi!” came a muffled shout from the upstairs.

A corner of Lomadia’s lips ticked up in a small smirk, and Will chuckled. She ordered Will to get to work or he’d lose his job, only partly joking. Will had spent enough time around the serious witch to know that there was enough truth there to be nervous, and rushed to put his bag away and start organizing the shelves.

He wasn’t actually allowed to make any of the potions or charms anymore (which, to be fair, was completely reasonable). There had been an incident a few weeks ago with Nilesy, where his cat had knocked into him while he was carefully pouring Breath of Life into a cauldron. The result was an explosion and a pile of goo that constantly screeched and reached for them with green tendrils. Lomadia had come rushing in, and her wrath was a force to be reckoned with.

Will and Nilesy were banned from the actual making of potions for an indefinite amount of time after that.

The day went agonizingly slow. There were only a few customers who came in, and almost all of them were just there to pick up already made potions and didn’t need that much assistance. Nilesy swooped in for the two that actually did need assistance, charming them into buying more than what they actually needed.

Lalna was texting him throughout the day, as he was wont to do. They exchanged idle messages, sending dumb pictures that they came across or gossiping about the latest news.

 _Do you want me to pick you up after work?_ Lalna texted him a half-hour before his shift was meant to end. _We can go do stuff, if u want._

 _Sure,_ Will responded. _What’s the plan?_

_It’s a surprise._

Well, that certainly didn’t sit well in Will’s stomach. He’d learned over the years to never trust surprises, especially not in the city; it was right up there with asking for a favor from the fae. You could never be sure if it was going to be an innocent cake, or some box that was filled with scarabs that would eat you alive, Honeydew had bitterly told him.

No matter how much he pestered Lalna, though, the other boy refused to give in. He’d definitely inherited some of Honeydew’s hardheadedness, which brought up the question of if it was possible to inherit a “parent’s” traits if the child was made from magic and hadn't actually be born.

Will growled with annoyance when Lalna stopped responding, and stuffed his phone into his back pocket.

“Will, you doin’ okay?”

He startles when a hand lands on his shoulder, and looks up to see Nilesy posed over him, wearing a worried look.

“Not particularly,” he muttered, sitting up straight.

“What’s wrong, then?”

Will flapped his hand, grumbling unintelligibly that he didn’t want to discuss it and hoping that it was enough to stave off his sort-of boss.

“Well, alright," Nilesy said warily. He looked around the empty shop. "I think you can go home a little bit early today. It’s been really quiet all day, and I know Lom wouldn’t mind.”

Will raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure about that?” he snorted in disbelief. He still took off his apron and hung it up on the proper hook, readying his things to leave.

“Hey, I own part of this business too, y’know! I have the authority to tell you to screw off!”

“Yeah, yeah,” he snorted in amusement, pulling his hoodie on and flicking the hood up. He glanced out the window and saw Xephos’ car sitting on the curb. “I’ll see you on Friday, bright and early, okay?”

There was a clatter from the upstairs, followed by a petulant meow from one of the cats. Nilesy’s eyes widened, and he took the stairs up two at a time, calling for Mr. Kitty. Will nervously stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking up and wondering if he should go get Lomadia, who was still deep in the basement. That cat was known for getting into the most dangerous and nasty things.

Nilesy came back down, though, carrying the little black cat and grinning widely. “She just knocked some things off the counter, didn’t you, naughty kitty?” he cooed to her, scratching under her chin.

"Uh, alright, well, I'm gonna go now," Will cleared his throat, watching the cat nervously. "You two have fun." _And please don’t die_ , he added silently.

He left the safety of the shop and waved at Nilesy through the window. He burrowed further into his hoodie before jogging to the waiting car.

“So, are you going to finally tell me your devious plan?” Will said as soon as he entered the car.

“Yeah, it’s better to say it now, when Dad can’t hear me.”

Will’s eyes widened, leaning slightly away. “Oh my god, what did you do? Did you kill someone? Are _we_ going to kill someone?”

“ _Gods_ , no, Will, stop saying those things.” Lalna grimaced and swerved back into his lane when he started to drift into the other. "There's a party downtown tonight, and I wanted to go with you."

Will's first reaction was to laugh loudly and without humor. "I think murder would be easier. Do you _really_ think Uncle Xephos is going to let us go out to a party?"

"Aha, I've already thought about that," Lalna grinned. "We'll tell 'im that we're going over for Nano's and Lalna's."

"Oh, great," Will snorted, crossing his arms. "Now we're gonna lie to him, too? He's going to ground you as soon as he calls them to see if we're there."

"But see, Dad would never willingly call Nano. Even if he did, they'd totally cover for us."

“Would they?” Will asked sourly.

“C’mon, Will,” Lalna urged, waving his arms. “You need some time to relax. It’ll be fine. And if the party’s boring, then we just go home, no drama.”

Will was about to shake his head in denial again, but hesitated. Yeah. Yeah, he deserved a break. He needed some kind of stress-relief, some time to not think about things and just focus on himself. And it wasn’t just for his sake, too--if he got too wrapped up or stressed out and couldn’t control his magic, he’d end up shorting out the whole block and probably get dragged down to the bottom of the city by the ghostly, needy hands and voices that haunted his dreams.

“Alright, we’ll go for a bit.”

Lalna grinned widely. “This’ll be _great,_ ” he crowed.

***

They approached the question after they’d sat down at the dinner table, when Xephos was still pleased with having his family all in one place. The two waited until the blessing had been said, and that the hedgewitch was already beginning to relax as he sated his hunger.

There was a lull in the conversation. Lalna glanced pointedly up at Will, looking between him and his father meaningfully. Will nodded minutely, and cleared his throat.

“So, uh, Uncle Xephos,” Will said, breaking the silence. “Lalna and I were wondering if we could go over to Nano and other-Lalna’s tonight.”

Xephos’ fork froze halfway to his mouth. He continued the motion, and chewed his food slowly. “Why?” he asked suspiciously. “You two never go over there.”

“I was missin’ Lal, so I thought we would pop in and hang out a bit,” Lalna explained. “And he was telling me that I was crap at video games, so I have to prove my worthiness and kick his a--beat him a few times at a game.”

“I think it’s fine, love,” Honeydew broke in, smiling widely. “It’s good for the boys too see each other once in a while, and Will’s been desperately needing a break these past couple of weeks. I think a relaxing night would do both of them good.”

Xephos sighed, shoulders slumping. “Yes, I know that,” he said. “I just...I don’t like them being around that purple-skinned nymph. She’s dangerous.”

“Not dangerous enough to keep Lalna away from her,” Lalna muttered under his breath. He saw the pained look that passed over Xephos’ features and pointedly stared at his plate, lips tightening with guilt.

“Lalna,” Honeydew admonished his son quietly.

“No, he’s right,” Xephos sighed heavily. He took a deep breath, straightening his back. “I--they’re grown boys. They can make their own decisions on who to see.” It obviously left a bad taste in his mouth, but he didn’t bring it up anymore.

Lalna and Will left after dinner was done and all of the dishes were cleaned and put away, practically vibrating with excitement as they told Xephos they were leaving. They had to listen to Uncle Xephos’ disapproving lecture about Nano, and how they shouldn’t trust her too much, but he still packed a box of cookies for her and Lalna, the kind that were her favorites.

“What time do you think you’ll be home?” Xephos asked casually as he packed up the cookies.

“Uh.” Lalna gave his cousin a panicked look.

“W-we’re not sure,” Will interjected quickly. “Probably really late. We’re gonna have a video game marathon, and we’re not gonna stop until we’re done. You and Uncle Honeydew don’t need to wait up for us.”

“If you’re sure,” Uncle Xephos said smoothly, handing Will the cookies.

Lalna grinned goofily and gave Will a congratulatory thumbs up.

Lalna obediently let Xephos do his usual ritual, a kiss on the forehead, two on the cheeks, specific words said so many times that they just rolled off his tongue smoothly. Will ducked behind them, and was waiting by the car with a bland smile.

“So, what’re we doing with these cookies?” Will asked, holding the bag up.

“Dunno,” Lalna shrugged. “I guess we can drop them off at Nano and Lal’s house really fast. Just put ‘em on the doorstep, and then we can go.”

They ended up doing just that--Will hopped out of the car and put the cookies in the mailbox, ringing the doorbell. He hurried back to the car, and they left before the other Lalna had even opened the door.

***

Will hadn't known that when Lalna had said there was a party, it was actually at a club, but didn't complain. It was easy to slip past the bouncers at the front door, getting wristbands that said they were underage.

The party wasn’t a crazy one, but had just enough energy to have adrenaline thrumming through Will’s veins. There was laughter constantly ringing in the air, voices a manageable buzz. The colors of their outfits were vibrant and artsy, and some kind of pop music played in the background of it all. The lower level was a dance floor, but there was enough room on the upper levels to avoid the crowds and enchantments to avoid the noise.

“Will!”

He looked up and saw Zoey walking towards him, a wide grin on her face. She wore plain jeans and an oversized shirt that seemed to change colors at every single movement, the light refracting in blues and then reds and oranges and every hue imaginable. She yanked Will into a tight hug, the bracelets around her wrists clinking together noisily.

She pulled back and smiled at him again, keeping her hands on his shoulders. “I didn’t know you were going to be here,” she greeted him. “I’m so glad--I don’t actually really know anyone here.” She grimaced, leaning to the side as someone passed by and got too close.

“I didn’t think I’d see you here, either,” Will chuckled. “We’re in the same boat, it seems.”

“I know, but I had to make an appearance,” Zoeya chuckled. “The guy who’s throwing the party is a big donor to the animal shelter. I’ve been mostly hiding out in the VIP lounge and stealing the food with Fifi.” She turned and looked back. Her muscular girlfriend was easy to see, and she gave Zoey a warm smile and Will a nod in greeting.

Zoey turned around and gasped when she finally saw Lalna. “And one of the Lalnas! I haven’t seen either one ‘a ya in ages.” She dragged him into another hug. “Are you the one with Xephos or Nano’s?”

“Xephos,” Lalna clarified. “And he doesn’t actually belong to Nano, you know.”

“Details,” she waved him off. “How did you convince him to let you guys come out to a party? I mean, this is definitely a safe one, the club's run by humans, but still. He’s not the kind of guy to just let you guys go for a night on the town.”

Lalna and Will shared a nervous look. “Well…”

“Oh.” Her eyes widened comically. “Oh no. Tell me you didn’t.”

“We told him that we were going to Nano's place,” Lalna hastily said. “And, well, we _did_ stop by there. For a few minutes. We just didn't bother telling him we were going somewhere else.”

“And we’re just going to be out for a couple of hours before heading home," Will joined in. "We’re not going to do anything bad or dumb, we swear. We just wanted to get out of the house for a little while.”

“Yeah, you try sayin’ that to Xephos, tell me how it goes,” Zoeya snorted, crossing her arms. “Please tell me you both have enough brain cells combined to know that that is possibly one of the worst excuses you could have ever come up with.”

“It was the best we could come up with,” Will huffed, mimicking her stance.

“I’ll give you a few points for desperation, I guess, but I’ll still have to fail you.”

Will grinned, knowing that Zoeya wasn’t actually that upset over it anymore if she was cracking jokes again. She saw his expression and jabbed a finger at his chest. “And you’ll be double failed if you somehow drag me into this, okay?”

“Understood,” Lalna said solemnly. “Can we go try that VIP food now?"

***

Lalna and Will ended up staying for longer than they had meant to, but the time had passed with them barely noticing. Not in the fae sense--it was honestly just a good party. The energy of the room never turned frenzied, and the few people who were making a scene or picking a fight were calmly escorted out. Zoey said goodbye a half hour in, and the two boys ended up moseying around the room, occasionally trying to make conversation or dance when the opportunity presented itself.

When the familiar throbbing of a city magic-induced headache started to set in, Will pulled Lalna to the side and asked if they could go. He’d timed it right, because Lalna had just inadvertently tripped and bumped into a fae, knocking off a few of the mushrooms that were sprouting from her shoulders. She'd been scandalized, and the two boys were already hurrying off when they saw the bouncers making a bee-line towards them.

There was a minor panic when they couldn’t remember where they had parked their car, but after wandering aimlessly for a few blocks, they were able to locate it.

“Alright, onward home,” Lalna sighed contentedly, starting the car. “Or do you wanna go somewhere else? Maybe stop for a midnight snack?”

“I think _you_ do,” Will chuckled, sinking into his seat more comfortably. “You got that adrenaline rush from staying out late without Dad’s permission.” Lalna gave him a playful shove and pulled out onto the road. “I’m always up for some fries.”

Lalna was about to respond, but was interrupted by a car honking at him angrily when he accidentally took a turn too wide and nearly hit the other person. Will yelped, bracing himself with one hand on the dashboard and the other against the door.

“We’re fine, totally fine,” Lalna said breezily, tightly gripping the steering wheel with both hands and swerving back into his own lane. “You should put on some music. Use the aux cord.”

Will complied when he was sure that he was no longer in imminent danger of losing his life. He groped around in the darkness until he found the end of it.

“There’s a cool place just outside of the city that has the best fries around,” Lalna chatted as he drove. He exited onto the highway, picking up speed. “It’s pretty far out there, but the drive is completely worth it.”

They drove further away from the city, and the traffic started to dwindle, until there were only a car passing by them every few moments. The road was thickly lined with trees, occasionally opening up for fields or a lone house. Lalna and Will lapsed into a comfortable silence, the radio playing something upbeat to keep them awake.

“You’re starting to look tired,” Will teased Lalna when he saw the other boy’s eyes start to glaze over. “Is being up passed your bedtime too much to handle? We can go home, if you want.”

He honestly didn’t want to. This was one of the few times since he’d moved into the city where he didn’t have the constant pounding of the city threatening to break open his skull. Will wanted the quiet to last as long as possible.

“I’m just fine!” Lalna snorted indignantly. “It’s just staring at this road is so _boring_. And your music bloody sucks.”

He glanced down and started to flip through the radio stations, each time making a disgusted sound at what was playing. Will huffed and crossed his arms, pulling out the aux cord from his phone. He saw the headlights gleam off something further down the road, and his eyes widened.

“Dude!”

Lalna turned back to the road, gripping the steering wheel with both hands tightly.

“What the _fuck_ \--”

He wasn’t able to swerve fast enough. There was a loud thump and the car bumped over whatever was in the road. A horrifying screeching sound followed right after, the sound of metal scraping over the ground. Lalna tried to keep driving, but the sound simply got worse, and he quickly pulled off onto the side of the road.

They stared at each other, eyes wide and frightened.

"Oh, Jesus CHRIST!"

They both scrambled out of the car, Will immediately whipping out his phone for a light and Lalna crouching low to peer under the car.

“Wh--is that a fucking bike?!” Lalna screeched in disbelief.

Sure enough, it was a bicycle that was wedged quite firmly under the car. The metal and wheels were contorted around it, pressed so close to the underside that it seemed like it was molded on. Lalna tugged on the bike chain with all of his might, but the bicycle didn't budge in the slightest.

Lalna struggled back up to his feet, taking a few steps away. He raked his fingers through his hair, eyes frantic.

"My dad's going to _kill_ me!" Lalna wailed, throwing his hands up. " _Fuck_! This was a horrible idea, fuck, fuck, fuck..."

Will swallowed dryly, forcing down his panic. Only one of them could be freaking out in this situation. Someone had to be calm enough to figure out what to do. “Here, let me check to see if anything’s, er, not working,” he said, and pressed his magic out towards the car, feeling for any dents or broken pieces under the car. He was surprised when his magic was repelled only a few inches from the car, bouncing off harmlessly.

“Don’t bother,” Lalna huffed. “Dad has this thing so enchanted that even that bloody horned bastard would have trouble destroying it.”

If it were any other situation, Will would have been impressed, but now, stuck on the side of a road with no help in sight, he wanted to bang his head against a tree.

“Okay,” he said, voice high with stress. He cleared his throat. “Okay. Who can we call to come pick us up? What about Nano, or the other Lalna?”

Lalna shook his head. “Nano won’t leave her tree or garden since winter’s coming up, and Lal won’t leave her,” he explained tersely.

Will swore. “Do you have Zoey’s number? We can try her and Fiona.”

Lalna shook his head sharply. “I don’t. And they don’t have a car.”

Will swallowed nervously as the reality of the situation started to set in. “Alright. I’m going to call Nilesy,” he said, tapping the call button before he could lose his nerve. He seemed like the one who was the least likely to tattle to Uncle Xephos about their late night escapades--well, as long as he was able to keep his mouth shut around Lomadia. Which was depressingly unlikely. And would be followed by Lomadia dragging them by their ears to Uncle Xephos to give them the lecture of a lifetime.

Lalna made a pained noise, but didn’t argue with him, choosing instead to crawl back under the car. There was silence as Will waited for Nilesy to pick up and Lalna laid on the ground, still helplessly tugging on one of the mangled wheels and keening.

One of the passing cars abruptly stopped a few yards after passing them. After a couple of moments, it did a U-turn before driving passed them again. It stopped after another few yards, doing a second U-turn and slowly pulling up behind them. The bright headlights blinded Lalna and Will, hiding whoever were in the car.

There was the whirring of window being rolled down, and then a taunting whistle rang out.

“Oh, for god’s sake!” Lalna yelled in frustration as he realized who had pulled up.

“Hey boys,” Smith’s mocking voice rang out. “Having some car troubles?”

Will turned his back to the car, staring with wide eyes at the gravel under his feet. This couldn’t be happening. It could not be happening. He refused to believe it was.

“No, we do not,” Will said shortly, denying the situation in its entirety.

The call went to voicemail again, and he redialed Nilesy’s number, willing him to pick the goddamn phone up. He started to press his magic through the phone lines, trying to reach Nilesy’s phone to make the ringer louder, but when he started to get dragged deeper into the line, feeling the calls from the cars driving further away, the radio playing a dozen songs at once, signals dancing through the air, the city calling to him, to _join them_ , all of the electricity connected and _addictive_ \--

He forced himself back, pressing a steadying hand against the back of the car. Will didn’t have time to get lost in the city. He’d just have to hope that Nilesy would be able to hear the call and _fucking pick it up_.

The call went to voicemail. Car doors opened.

Smiffy came strolling out, hands in his pockets and a swagger in his step. His lips were quirked into a smirk, the grin reflected on Trott’s face. Ross hung a step behind them, stoically watching the two boys. His horns refracted the light from the headlights into dozens of colors, seeming to make them glow. Any other time, Will might have actually spent time to admire the colors and facets of them, but he was too busy being concerned for his life.

Lalna scrabbled to his feet, and Will automatically took a step up until they were next to each other.

“What seems to be the problem, boys?” Trott asked.

"Nothing," Lalna rushed to say. "Just, er, c-car troubles, like you said."

"Ah, what a shame," the selkie said, mockingly sympathetic. "We'll wait until the stick-up-his-arse homebody comes to pick you up then."

Will and Lalna tensed. Lalna’s ears started to flush, and he faced away from the fae, angrily running his fingers through his already messy hair. He prayed that they hadn’t noticed their painfully obvious reactions, but, of course, they zeroed in on it.

“Have you not called him yet?” Ross asked innocently, gemstone eyes sparkling.

Will shot him a venomous glare.

“Aw, did you two finally grow some balls?” Smith cooed mockingly. “Snuck out for a night on the town, didja? Took Daddy’s car out for a spin?” He clucked his tongue. “Mates, it’s just not your night, is it?”

“Fuck _off_ ,” Will snarled defensively.

Trott chuckled in delight. “Bad, bad luck for you,” he agreed.

“Look, why’d you guys stop?” Will ground out from behind his teeth. “What do you want?”

And wasn’t that the magic question? The smirks that formed on their faces disturbed Will more than anything that the men had said so far.

“Why, Will,” Trott purred, voice as slippery as an oil slick. “We just saw you on the roadside, all helpless, and came to see if you needed assistance. And, since you’re all alone…” He held his hands out, shrugging his shoulders as if to say, _‘What can you do?_ ’ “It seems it was good that we did.”

Will’s mouth twisted into a snarl, and he opened his mouth to respond, but was stopped by Lalna angrily hissing to get his attention.

“Will, come on,” Lalna begged, tugging on Will’s jacket. “This isn’t worth it. They’re just going to trick us into asking a favor from them.”

“We’d do no such thing!” Ross piped up indignantly, and Smith snickered.

“The nearest gas station’s just a few miles back,” Lalna quickly said. “I checked on my phone. Let’s just walk there, and then we can wait there until we get ahold of somebody, or try and find a tow truck, or--hell, _anything_ besides just sitting here.”

“Mm, that doesn’t seem like the best idea,” Trott disagreed, speaking as if he were a part of the conversation and not the nuisance that he actually was.

“It looks like it’s about to rain,” Ross said casually, glancing pointedly up at the darkened sky. “It’d be a shame if you guys were caught in it before you managed to get to a gas station, don’t you think?”

“Especially when we’re already here,” Smith joined in. He vaguely gestured to the three of them. “A gargoyle, a selkie, and a kelpie? Mate, we can have your car fixed in a few seconds.”

“N-no one bloody asked you!” Lalna spat back. He glared at the kelpie, daring him to retaliate even as his fists shook uncontrollably.

Will took a small step forward, pushing his cousin behind him. There were a few inches in between their heights, so Lalna was still able to see clearly over the smaller man’s head. Smith guffawed loudly at them.

“Do you _really_ think you and your pathetic little self can stop me if I wanted to hurt your cuz, mate?” Smith laughed cruelly.

“I’ll try,” Will spat back venomously.

Behind the three fae, the headlights started to flicker rapidly, and the static from the radio grew louder as Will began to draw energy from the machines. It wasn’t much just yet, but it was enough to make his fists faintly glow a milky orange color, growing more vibrant as more magic was drawn from the cars.

Smith’s grin morphed into a sneer, and he took a menacing step closer, only to be stopped by Trott’s hand on his chest. He whipped around indignantly at the other fae, opening his mouth to argue. One scathing look from the selkie had him shutting his mouth with an audible click, and reluctantly backing up to his original spot.

Letting out a shaky breath, Will unclenched his fists and let go of the magic. It immediately flew back to the car, and the lights stopped flickering. The radio returned to whatever folksy music it had been playing before.

“Prick,” Smith muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Will and Lalna to hear. Ross smacked the back of his head with his tail.

Trott gave Will another smile, ignoring the remnants of the tension that had filled the air. “We just thought that you and your friend could use a little muscle to help with your car,” he explained calmly. “If you don’t want us, then we can just go on our way, and leave you boys out here for the foreseeable future.”

Raindrops started to patter down from the sky, one of them landing on the back of Will’s neck, just at the right place to slide down his back and send shivers running up his spine. Emotion welled up in his chest, and he wasn’t sure if he was going to burst into tears or scream at the top of his lungs.

“Fine!” Will blurted, throwing up his hands in defeat. “Yes. We need help. There’s a bike stuck under the car.”

Lalna sucked in a breath as if he'd been slapped. A grin slowly grew on Trott's face.

Ross and Smith immediately moved towards the car. Ross walked in a straight line to the car, but Smith detoured closer to the two boys to watch how it made them squirm, chuckling gleefully.

Ross widened his stance and grabbed the bumper of the car. He grunted quietly, and there was a creak before the whole back of the car started to rise. Smith ducked under when it was high enough and dragged the mangled bike out, able to now that it wasn’t pinned by the car. He glanced around a bit before pulling back and letting the gargoyle set the car back down.

"Nothin' broken or punctured, as far as I can see," Smith said. "Should run fine."

Will felt a hysterical laugh rise in the back of his throat while simultaneously feeling as if he were about to vomit.

All of that stressing and worrying, and they’d managed to get the bicycle free in less than ten seconds.

“Then you’re all set, boys,” Trott said as Smith tossed the bicycle into the bushes with an ease that made Lalna’s face go even paler. “There’s probably going to be a very sad child coming here tomorrow to find his lost bike.”

“Or was ‘e on it?” Smith broke in, eyes shining. “Did you hit ‘im?”

“I did _not_ hit a child on a bike!” Lalna said, voice cracking. “The bike was in the middle of the road!”

If it were any other person, Will would say that Smith was pouting. “Alright, alright,” he grumbled, pulling out a cigarette from his pocket. “Y’r no fun. Woulda been ten times funnier if there’d been a kid on it…” He held the pack over his head when Ross swiped at it.

“Now that that’s done, we’re leaving,” Will said decisively, sounding surprisingly confident, even if the words were a bit stinted. “See ya.” _Or hopefully never._

Trott nodded. “We’ll follow you for a few miles, to make sure it didn’t screw up anything under your car,” Trott said as Smith and Ross climbed back into their car.

"No, thank you."

“You’re welcome to ride with us, Will," Trott continued, ignoring him.

“Uh, yeah, no, he’s going to pass up on that,” Lalna said loudly, grabbing an unresisting Will’s upper arm and dragging him towards the car.

“No fun!” Smith called from the car.

“Oh, Will?”

Will warily turned around, the car door already open and halfway into the car. Lalna was already in the front seat, hissing for him to hurry up. His stomach dropped when he saw Trott’s grin, wide and feral with sharp teeth.

“We’ll be seeing you soon,” he promised, voice lower than before.

Will didn’t respond, hurrying to get fully into the car to have something protecting him from the very dangerous fae. Lalna was quick to turn the car around and speed onto the road, tires kicking up gravel before they were on the paved road.

They drove in stunned silence. Every few seconds, Lalna would glance into the rearview mirror, confirming that the Garbage Court was still leisurely tailing them, only a few yards behind the car. Neither of them talked about it, both hoping that the fae would get bored leave them alone if they were ignored long enough.

After a few more minutes of driving, Smith honked at them. Lalna squawked in surprise, swerving slightly as Will whipped around to see what they were doing. He was so relieved he thought he was going to cry when he saw that they turned down a different street, finally leaving the two teenagers alone.

The two of them shared a relieved sigh before relapsing into silence, the only sound being the rumble of the car.

Half an hour later, they pulled into the driveway of their little brownstone. All of the lights were turned out (most importantly, the window to Xephos and Honeydew’s room was dark), save for a light on the front porch that twinkled invitingly. Lalna turned off the car, leaving the two of them in deafening silence.

Lalna finally spoke. “Will, if you tell Dad, I swear on every god I know that you’ll die a painful death.”

“Same goes for you.”

There was another beat of stunned silence.

They left the car and wandered inside, making the least amount of noise possible as to not wake Uncle Xephos or Honeydew. Lalna and Will didn’t bother saying goodnight to each other before sneaking into their rooms and promptly passing out on their own beds.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a filler chapter here, just to sort of set everything up for the next part :)  
> I'm sorry if there are any grammatical errors--school and life have been extremely busy lately, so I didn't have time to edit as carefully as I wanted to :'D

Days passed, and the Garbage Court had yet to try and get in contact with Lalna and Will.

The two cousins refused to talk about the incident anywhere near the house, fearing that Xephos or Honeydew would overhear them. When it was brought up, one of them would quickly change the subject, feeling ill at the mere thought of the incident. Neither would admit it, but both of them held the timid hope that if they didn’t talk about it, they could pretend it never happened, and that they didn’t have to worry about waking up to Smith’s face grinning maniacally an inch from their own.

Will threw himself into his schoolwork, completing assignments in record time and studying for tests nonstop, while Lalna worked on his various projects and experiments in his room, only coming out for meals and to buy new parts. Both of them were more productive than anyone had ever seen them, and while Xephos had his suspicions that there was a reason for his boys’ sudden better work ethic, he was pleased by it, and chose not to comment on it.

After a particularly long day at work, Will came home tired, feet dragging on the sidewalk and head pounding from the city’s constant screams. With the added anxiety of waiting for the Garbage Court, Will was finding it difficult to properly block out the cacophony of voices that emanated from the heart of the city.

He kicked the front door shut behind him and dropped his bag off to the side, unwinding his scarf from around his throat. He let out a long sigh as the warmth of Xephos’ homely magic washed over him, drawing out some of the exhaustion and negative feelings.

“‘M home,” he called out, hanging up his coat and scarf while toeing off his shoes. He absently noticed another pair of ratty tennis shoes that didn’t belong to anyone in the family. Was Nilesy visiting? He couldn’t think of anyone else who had shoes like that…

He rounded the corner into the living room, and felt his stomach drop.

Uncle Xephos was sitting in his usual armchair, his legs crossed politely and teacup in his hand. He was conversing companionably with none other than Sips, who was sprawled out on the couch and slurping at his tea. Behind them, peeking out from the top of the the stairs, Lalna was hunched over, eyes wide and frantic and looking two seconds away from a breakdown.

Sips turned his head and gave Will a lopsided grin. “Hey, kiddo,” he greeted him.

Xephos looked up and smiled at him warmly, setting his teacup down on the table. “Hello, Will,” he said. “How was class?”

It took a few seconds before Will could process the question and make more noise than just a squeak. “Um,” he managed. “It…it was good. N-nothing interesting. Er, wh-what is Sips doing here?” He tried to make the question sound casual, but the crack at the end ruined the attempt.

“Oh, he had some errands to run nearby, and I thought it’d be a good time to catch up,” Xephos said, throwing a friendly smile at the other man.

Objectively, Will had known that Sips and Xephos were friends from college. He knew that Xephos would occasionally go out to a cafe or diner to catch up with him, even calling him every week or so to make sure Sips wasn’t dead or dying. Somehow, Xephos was able to look over his disdain of the Garbage Court in favor of keeping his friendship, who happened to be _their king_. It made no sense to anyone but Honeydew, who seemed to also find the human enjoyable.

Will shook off his thoughts and gave his uncle a twisted smile. “That’s nice,” he said faintly. He stiffly walked sideways through the room towards the staircase, back to the wall and keeping Sips in his view the entire time. “I’m going to go upstairs,” he continued. “I’m gonna, um, go help Lal with—something. Yeah. That’s what I’m going to, um. Go. Do.”

“Before you do that, would you be a darling and go make some more tea?” Xephos stopped him. “We’re almost out. The tea in the blue container, if you would.”

“I--yeah. Sure.”

Will woodenly walked into the kitchen, nearly dropping the kettle twice as he filled it with water. He strained his ears to listen to what Sips and Xephos were talking about, but it all just sounded like casual and meaningless chatter. He stopped focusing on it as he waited for the water to come to boil, fingers drumming nervously on the countertop. His fear made the lights in the kitchen flare brighter for a few moments, and it took a shorter amount of time than usual for the teakettle to start whistling.

What the hell was Sips doing there? He knew it couldn’t have only been for a casual visit. Was he going to tell Xephos about the car accident? Tell him how Lalna and Will had ended up indebted to three bloodthirsty and dangerous fae, fae who Xephos had specifically ordered them to stay away from? Or was he simply there to torture the two boys, to remind them of the debt they owe, one that could be called upon at any time?

When the tea was done steeping, Will went back into the living room in the middle of Xephos and Sips’ conversation, setting the teacups on the coffee table.

Sips barely looked at Will as he sighed regretfully. “The electricity in my apartment building’s on the fritz,” he said. “Some idiot kid tried to mix technomagic with his own and now everything’s cursed. The landlord’s having trouble finding a technomage who actually knows what they’re talkin’ about to come fix it. It’s a pain in everyone’s ass.”

Xephos hummed, biting the inside of his cheek thoughtfully. “That is quite terrible,” he agreed. “I would say you should ask Will if he could do it, but I’m not sure I want him around your court.”

Will’s blood sang with joy-- _thank you, Uncle Xeph, and your overprotectiveness._

“Oh, those guys are out on official court business right now,” Sips said, waving his hand flippantly. “They’re supposed to be out for a couple of days, so it’s just lil’ old me in the apartment right now.”

Will for the life of him couldn’t tell if that was a lie or the truth, but he was definitely leaning towards the former, while Xephos seemed to accept the latter. The dread came back with a vengeance when Will saw Uncle Xephos’ eyes light up, his natural instinct to help his friends flaring up. _Don’t say it, please don’t say it_ \--

“Well? Will? Do you think you can help him out?”

Sips turned around to look at him, blocking his toothy and menacing grin from Xephos’ view.

Gods above, his uncle was going to get him _killed._

“No, I couldn’t ask him to do that,” Sips scoffed, waving his hand and transforming his expression into something less dangerous. “He probably has more important things to do.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re done with work for the night, right?” Xephos directed the question at Will. “Do you have any homework?”

“I--” He clamped just jaw shut when he saw the way Sips was staring at him, an eyebrow raised, as if daring him to say he couldn’t. “I’m...free for the night. No important homework. I could have a look.”

A slow grin grew on Sips’ face. “Aw, would you really?” Sips exclaimed. “That’d be great, Will. Do you wanna head over to my place now?”

“Might as well,” Will said faintly.

He slowly made his way to the front door as Xephos and Sips said their good-byes. He glanced back and saw Lalna now standing in the living room, watching Will as if this was the last time he was going to see him. He knew he couldn’t give his cousin a remotely convincing reassuring look, so he didn’t bother trying, simply turning back around and following Sips out of the apartment, calling out a goodbye to Xephos and desperately hoping that that goodbye wouldn’t be the last thing he ever said to him.

“Oof, it’s cold,” Sips said, a shiver running up his spine. “I’m sick of this cold already. I’m ready for the summer. Bring on the beaches.”

Will didn’t respond beyond a small grunt as they made their way down into the subway. Sips whistled between his teeth, seeming content with the silence and only glancing down once or twice to make sure that Will was still next to him as they waited for the train.

The young technomage couldn’t help but feel uneasy so far underground. The air was just so different, the magic feeling _colder_ and _darker_. This wasn’t the place for a technomage—he was meant to be above ground, around phone calls and television screens and machines. Down here was much more earthy, the realm of fae who lived in the dark and rarely came above ground.

Sips slapped a hand on his shoulder, making him jump in surprise. “Don’t worry, no big baddies are gonna getcha down here,” Sips said cheerily. “It’s still technically daytime, even if there’s no sunlight down here, and the train’s chock-full of charms. Haven’t you ridden the subway before?”

Will shook his head. “I always take the bus.”

“Ah, well, I suppose that isn’t really surprising. A lotta magical folk seem get wigged out being underground.”

Sips shrugged it off as the train finally arrived. They sat down on the plastic seats in silence, Will fidgeting and Sips seemingly focused on their surroundings.

“Stop looking like I’m leading you off to your death,” Sips finally chided him, leaning back and crossing his arms across his chest.

Will raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “Does that mean you’re promising I’m not going to die?” he asked pointedly.

“Well, no. But that doesn’t mean you have to _look_ like I’m about to lead you off to potential death. It really puts a damper on everything, and it gets weird looks from people.”

The teenager tried to pretend that there wasn’t a thrill of dread that ran down his spine at the human king’s casual words. He knew that the man wasn’t trying to use any kind of fear tactic or exaggerating: the Garbage Court was constantly fighting and maiming and had thousands of dollars in bounties on their heads. Assassins and wannabe rivals constantly attacked them, and it wasn’t by any stretch of imagination that Will could get caught in the crosshairs.

If the court itself didn’t kill him, first.

“I fucked up so bad,” he moaned, burying his face in his hands. “I should’ve just called Uncle Honeydew.”

“Hey, don’t beat yourself up about it,” Sips said, his voice softening. He reached out and clapped a hand on Will’s shoulder, shaking him affectionately. “We’ve all done dumb things. Just most people don’t get mixed up with killer fae in the process. That wasn’t the smartest thing to do.”

“I panicked,” Will said defensively. “I wasn’t thinking right, and for some reason--” He stopped himself before he finished his sentence. He realized how ridiculous he would sound if he tried to explain that he had deliriously thought that dealing with the Garbage Court would be better than having Uncle Xephos find out.

“I get it,” Sips snorted, leaning back. “Ol’ Xephy can be a scary guy, especially when it comes to his family. You’d probably be locked in the basement for the rest of your life if you’d’ve called him, am I right?”

“More than likely,” Will huffed mirthlessly.

Sips chuckled again, nodding in agreement. Will waited for him to continue the conversation, but the human seemed content to just be quiet.

“Can you just--tell me what you want already?” Will burst out. “I can’t be actually just playing your electrician.”

Sips shrugged, pulling out his phone and opening an app. “Not sure what you’ll be doing yet, exactly,” he said absently. “We haven’t decided. But I figured that I’d be proactive and snag you before you decided to try and weasel your way out of your debt.” Will scowled at the scenery that whizzed passed the window across from him. “The electricity thing is true, though. Everything in the apartment’s fucked up. No clue if it’s something you can actually fix, though.”

“But if I do that, then I’ll be out of my debt,” Will blurted.

“Nah, unless we say that you’ve done enough, you’re still stuck with us,” Sips responded, not looking up from his phone. “Nice try.”

Once again, Sips seemed content to stay in silence as they got off of the train at their station and resurfaced at street level. Sips nudged him in a direction and they leisurely started heading towards what Will assumed to be the man’s home.

As they walked, a kid went zooming by with his friends on their bikes, shouting and laughing boisterously.

“Do you wanna run those guys over with your car, too?”

Sips laughed loud and hard, needing to stop and lean against a building to catch his breath. He wheezed helplessly, slapping his knee while Will crossed his arms and impatiently waited for him to recover.

The apartment building was in the seedier part of town, noticeably close to the bay. There were a few broken windows, with a rusty fire escape running along the side of it. The building next to it was vacant, all of the windows boarded up or without glass. Sips had to jiggle the lock on the front door a few times before he successfully managed to get it open, and the lobby was grimy, the fluorescent lighting casting everything in an unpleasant light.

“Elevator’s a complete death trap, so we’re taking the stairs,” Sips told him, holding the door open and motioning for Will to go first. “Fifth floor.”

They stopped at the landing with the corresponding number and went to Sips’ apartment door, the man fumbling with the keys before successfully unlocking it.

“Honey, we’re home!” Sips yelled, slamming the door behind him and making Will jump a mile in the air.

The apartment was much cleaner than Will thought it would be, almost shockingly so. There was a ratty couch in front of a nice, flat screen television, and numerous dents in the otherwise shiny wooden floors. The kitchen only had a few dirty coffee mugs by the sink, with a battered coffee machine to go with them in the corner. There was only one hallway that led what Will assumed was the bedroom. The windows pointed towards the street, with another one that faced the adjacent building and the fire escape.

“Shoes off,” Sips ordered, kicking his own off and unzipping his jacket. “Trott’ll have a fit if you don’t. And I can’t say that I’d like it if we had your gross shoeprints everywhere.”

Will obeyed, toeing off his sneakers and trying not to think of the bizarre situation he’d found himself in. He was halfway out of his jacket when he heard someone moving around in the other room. Trott walked casually out of the hallway and into the living room, barefoot and wearing plain jeans with a dark green V-neck.

The selkie looked straight at him, a grin growing slowly on his face.

“Hey there, Will,” he said. “Long time no see. How’s the car doing?”

“It’s just _fine_ ,” Will gritted out, ignoring how his voice cracked.

He couldn’t help feeling another thrill of panic running up his spine when Sips walked passed him into the kitchen, leaving him alone with the fae. He stared right into Trott’s deceptively relaxed gaze, seeing him smirk and take another step forward.

“Aw, is the coffee pot not working again?” Sips whined, breaking the moment, pressing the buttons on the machine numerous times. He pouted (the _King of the Garbage Court_ was _pouting_ , some part of Will screamed, nearly in hysterics) and gave up on pushing the buttons. “What happened to it now?”

Trott shrugged, crossing his arms. “No clue. I came home and it was broken. I think Ross might’ve dropped it and broken it, or something.”

Sips turned around gestured widely at the coffee pot. “Hey, techno boy,” he called from the kitchen. “Come work your magic on the coffee pot. It’s broken again.”

Will hesitated, but entered the kitchen, looking around. It was startling how  _normal_ everything in the apartment seemed. 

“What’s wrong with it?” he asked, approaching the irritable man and the piece of machinery.

“Fuck if I know,” Sips snorted. “You figure it out.” He stepped back, waving his hand imperiously for Will to go ahead and do his task.

Will swallowed reflexively, feeling the eyes of Trott and the human bore into the back of his head. He carefully reached out, first with his hand, feeling the slightly sticky plastic. He pressed his palm more firmly against it, and started to carefully reach out with his magic, moving slowly and cautiously to not go too deep.

Even through the small connection, he felt the pull of city through the wires. It whispered to him, electricity flowing in his bloodstream and crackling in his core. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and pushing the electricity he’d gathered through the machine, searching for what was keeping it from working. The whispers got louder the more he explored, calling to him with loving voices, ghostlike fingers running over his arm.

He slowly built up a wall around his conscious, only leaving a small hole open to maintain the connection. It was enough to keep the voices muffled and allow him to concentrate, probing gingerly around the machine.

Now that he had finally tuned out the voices, it was easy to find the reason why the machine had stopped working--simply a faulty wire that he could repair with a small burst of magic. He pressed against it gingerly, and there was a pop before the electricity started to flow through it freely. After a few moments, it whirred into life, the water rising to a boil inside.

Will pulled back when he was sure the machine was going to keep working, his consciousness being dragged away from the wires and circuits of the coffee machine. He took his hand away, leaning heavily against the counter as the energy rushed to his head and left him dizzy.

Aware of Sips and Trott still staring pensively at him, he regained his composure and made a grand gesture towards the coffee machine that was now steadily filling the coffee pot.

"Ta da," he said jokingly.

Sips eagerly pulled out his chipped coffee mug, filling it up when the brewing was done. "I think that's faster than it worked when it was brand new," he exclaimed, taking a long drink. He sighed pleasantly. “I’d almost say that your whole debt should be paid of because of this.”

There was a pained noise from Trott, and Sips glanced up in surprise to see Will looking hopefully at him and Trott indignantly scrunching his nose. “I’m not _actually_ going to do that. Jesus, what am I, an idiot? Go sit back on the couch, you dope.”

Will’s shoulders slumped, and he let out a defeated sigh. He reluctantly went back into the living room, gingerly sitting on the couch. Sips came in a few moments later, toting two mugs for himself and Trott. He flopped down into his seat, content.

“So, what’re we supposed to do with ‘im now?” he asked Trott. “It’s been awhile since we’ve found some poor sucker to torment.”

Trott stroked his chin thoughtfully, looking Will up and down. Will’s fist clenched, and he swallowed compulsively, gaze flitting around the room nervously as he waited for Trott to answer.

“Dunno. He can probably just clean the bathroom, for now.”

Will’s eyes flew open and he stared at Trott, a growing feeling of indignation growing inside of him. Sips snorted, biting his lip.

“Hop to it, blondie, chop chop,” Sips yelled, clapping his hands. “Cleaning supplies are under the bathroom sink. Oh, and watch out for big, green spiders--Ross let one in the other day, and we haven’t been able to find it yet.”

Will clenched his jaw, forcing himself to bite back the protests that wanted to escape. He didn’t want to fight with them, since there could be a chance that they could make him do something worse. Cleaning a bathroom was better than having to dismember a person or steal something. And thankfully, the bathroom was as clean as the rest of the apartment, so he wouldn’t have to do too much work.

“So, what do _we_ do?” he heard Sips’ muffled voice.

“We wait,” Trott said casually, leaning back. “Smith and Ross should be back soon, and then we’ll have an answer about what that new court’s up to.”

That piqued Will’s interest. He’d heard Lomadia and Nano complaining a few days ago about some new, cocky people who had drifted into town and had started shoving others aside to make room for themselves. Had they been giving trouble to the Garbage Court, too? _Damn, these people are ballsy._

There was a lull as Will focused on cleaning the bathroom, grimacing and grumbling as he scrubbed the toilet. He tried to listen to what Sips and Trott were talking about, hoping to hear something that he could hopefully use to his advantage. It seemed like they weren’t saying anything interesting, though, just watching television and occasionally commenting on it.

He was finishing up when the front door banged open, making Will jump and let out a small yelp of fear. He peeked out the door, heart thudding in his chest, while Trott and Sips hadn't moved an inch or batted an eye from their place on the couch.

Smith and Ross came strolling in, the latter using his glass tail to push the door shut behind them.

“Took ya both long enough,” Sips called to them as the two went into the kitchen to set down the groceries.

_Groceries,_  a disbelieving voice murmured in Will's head. _They’re carrying_ groceries. Gods, this situation was just getting more bizarre by the minute.

“Ross got hungry,” Smith huffed, going back to the door to kick off his shoes, “and it was just on the way, so I figured we might as well--” He abruptly stopped talking, backtracking to stare at Will, who was standing warily in the hallway, still wearing the hot pink rubber gloves. “What’s the brat doing here? And why the hell’s he wearing those?”

“He’s cleaning the toilet,” Sips shrugged as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“But why he’s _actually_ here depends on whatever you have to say about the new guys,” Trott retorted, crossing his arms over his chest. Will swallowed compulsively.

Smith growled something under his breath before whipping around to start yanking things out of the plastic bags. His reaction struck Will as odd--there hadn’t been any mocking words or barely veiled threats, or the expected delight at seeing Will be humiliated. Even Ross didn’t look at him, his tail swishing around and eyes fiery as he followed Smith closely.

It seemed as if Will was forgotten as Ross and Smith shoved things away before gathering in the living room, bringing a large bag of potato chips. It seemed like something that they’d done dozens of times, going to spots that seemed to be exclusive to them. The atmosphere now held a note of seriousness, even Smith focusing on Trott as he shoveled chips into his mouth, holding the bag away when Ross’ tail reached out for it.

Will hesitated for a moment before taking off his gloves, tossing them into the bathroom before going back to stand in the entrance of the hallway, wanting to hear the conversation.

“How did it go?” Trott asked.

“It was fucking shit,” Smith spat angrily, Ross nodding in agreement.

“Took about thirty minutes for them to actually show, and then another twenty before they stopped whinging enough to get on with the meeting,” Ross growled.

“And the verdict is…?” Sips pushed.

“The verdict is that they’re a bunch of fucking pricks who deserve to have their asses kicked,” Smith said around a mouthful of chips. He swallowed before continuing. “They don't wanna do any sort of business with us or make any kind of deals. They wanna kick us out an’ take ‘a portion of the scary owl lady’s territory, too. Pretty sure they wanna take over everything they can get their greedy little paws on.”

“They’re trying to get _Lomadia_ ’ _s_ territory?” Sips exclaimed in disbelief. “Do they _want_ to die?”

Smith shrugged restlessly. He propelled himself up from his seat and started pacing around the living room, still eating.

“They’re too bold,” Ross joined in. “People’ve been saying that they’re cursing and beating up anyone who tries to stop them. Even people from _our_ territory. No one that we really know, but I remembered a few of the faces from the raves.”

Trott’s eyes flashed dangerously, making Will’s heart skip a beat. “We’ll deal with them sooner rather than later, then,” he stated simply. “Did you see anything else worth note about them? What are their defenses like?”

“They have some kinda technomage with them. ‘E has a seriously impressive security system set up around an old warehouse that they’re using. They’d know that we were there the second we stepped foot on their property, unless we do something about it.”

Will suddenly became extremely aware that they had all turned to stare at him, and he took a cautious step back, swallowing nervously. Smith chuckled, stopping his pacing and throwing himself on the couch next to Trott, tossing an arm over the selkie’s shoulders. Ross shifted so he was standing behind them, as still as the statue he was, sapphire eyes boring in Will with a mixture of sympathy and interest.

Trott smirked at Will’s discomfort and crossed one leg over the other. “How good’s your magic gotten, Will?” he asked innocently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos much appreciated. If you have any prompts (pls send me some im desperate)/questions/just wanna chat, send me a message: continuitygains.tumblr.com

**Author's Note:**

> The bicycle getting stuck under the car while driving in the middle of the night thing is 100% something that happened to me. It's more nerve-wracking than it sounds.
> 
> Thank you for reading :) Comments and kudos much appreciated! If you have any comments/prompts/wanna chat, message me on tumblr: continuitygains.tumblr.com


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